Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[delisha]

Evening To Everyone.... just walked in from hunting. Suzie was upset and explained that a fricken coopers hawk nailed one of the blue ameraucanas that was in hard molt. They just left the back of the house after their late treat of boss...dang hawks. Now all the birds will be on lockdown. I have to many that I don't want to lose for nothing.

Thanks for the kind words bl4.

Nice pic bbp. They always show up in the dark on the trailcams...prolly the reason they make it to maturity.

I'm gonna donate a .bunch of carrots to the Marion Community Meal that they serve on Thanksgiving.... Folks that don't have a place to go will attend. I'm gonna donate enough so that they have enough. That will take care of what is still in the ground...prolly dig em inaday or two.

Yep, I'm only getting one pullet egg a day....more than one is laying....but comeon girls.

Stay Safe...bigz

**** hawks

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Pumpkins carved.

 

[Celtic Chick]

**** hawks

**** hawks

x2. So sorry to hear about your ameraucana, Bigz. That really stinks.

Hugs to you too, Vicki. You have really been plagued with hawk attacks.

We got my few free rangers in with the rest of the flock with minimal drama. They have a large run that is long and skinny, with lots of cover and places for the chickens to hide. The hawks watch, but knock on wood, so far, so good. We had a falcon (at least I think it was a falcon) try a few times to navigate it, but he always landed outside of it, thankfully. He was alot smaller then the hawks, and a different coloring. All this talk about hawks got me to look them up. The one you saw, BBP, with the stripes, could have been an immature red tail or a subspecies of the redtail hawk, or if it was a little smaller, maybe a sharp-shinned hawk.

As for their diet, poultry is supposed to be somewhat of a rarity, but I guess with the increase in the number of people having chickens, the odds are going to increase. Like most predators, they are opportunistic and will eat whatever is around and is the easiest to catch. It sounds like their diet is mostly mice and other rodents. If that is the case, they better get busy around here (and stop eyeing up my girls).

We have no shortage of field mice. They took care of all of our ground squirrels, though. We used to be plagued with them, but I haven't seen even one in a couple of years.

Per Wiki, if anyone is interested:

The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens.

The Red-tailed Hawk is carnivorous, and an opportunistic feeder. Its diet is mainly small mammals, but it also includes birds and reptiles. Prey varies with regional and seasonal availability, but usually centers on rodents, comprising up to 85% of a hawk's diet. Most commonly reported prey types include mice, including both native Peromyscus species and house mice, gophers, voles, chipmunks, ground squirrels and tree squirrels. Additional prey (listed by descending likelihood of predation) include lagomorphs, shrews, bats, pigeons, quail, corvids, waterfowl, other raptors, reptiles, fish, crustaceans, insects and earthworms.
Prey specimens can range to as small a size as beetles and worms. However, they can also prey on marmots, White-tailed Jackrabbits, small domestic dogs, domestic cats, or female Wild Turkey, all of which are easily double the weight of most Red-tails. Although they prefer to feed on fresh prey they've killed themselves, these hawks are not above occasionally consuming carrion. During winter in captivity, an average Red-tail will eat about 135 g (4.8 oz) daily.

The Red-tailed Hawk commonly employ one of two hunting technique. Often, they scan for prey activity from an elevated perch site, swooping down from the perch to seize the prey. They also watch for prey while flying, either capturing a bird in flight or pursuing prey on the ground until they can pin them down in their talons. Red-tailed Hawks, like some other raptors, have been observed to hunt in pairs. This may consist of stalking opposites sides of a tree, in order to surround a tree squirrel and almost inevitably drive the rodent to be captured by one after being flushed by the other hawk. They are opportunistically attracted to conspicuous meals, such as displaying male Red-winged Blackbirds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_Hawk

Cooper's hawks:
Cooper's Hawks prey almost exclusively on small to mid-sized birds. Typical prey species include American Robins, other thrushes, jays, woodpeckers, European Starlings, quail, icterids, cuckoos, pigeons and doves. Birds preyed on can range in size from wood-warblers to Ring-necked Pheasants. They may also prey upon the raptor American Kestrel and other smaller raptors, including their cousin the Sharp-shinned Hawk. They have been known to rob nests and may supplement their diet with small mammals such as chipmunks, hares, mice, squirrels, and bats. Even more rarely, they may predate on lizards, frogs, or snakes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper%27s_Hawk

Sharp-shinned hawk
The great majority of this hawk's prey are small birds, especially various songbirds such as sparrows, wood-warblers, finches, wrens, nuthatches, tits, icterids and thrushes. Birds caught have ranged in size from a 4.4-g Anna's Hummingbird to a 577-g (1.2-lb) Ruffed Grouse and virtually any bird within this size range is potential prey. Typically, males will target smaller birds, such as sparrows and wood-warblers, and females will pursue larger prey, such as American Robins and flickers, leading to a lack of conflict between the sexes for prey. These hawks often exploit backyard bird feeders in order to target congregations of ideal prey. They often pluck the feathers off their prey on a post or other perch. Rarely, Sharp-shinned Hawks will also eat rodents, lizards, frogs, snakes, and large insects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp-shinned_Hawk

Sorry for the Frenchie post about hawks. I kinda thought it was interesting, in a frustrating sort of way. The suckers used to go after the wild birds at my feeders too. I guess they've moved on to bigger and better things.

I hope everyone's birds stay safe.

 

[babylady4]

We have a LOT of Cooper's hawks here in town. I enjoy them. Most of our neighbors are kind enough to place birdfeeders out in their yards, or as I refer to them as bird buffet's for the Cooper's. We watched one day as the Cooper hawk flew soundlessly through the yard and then glide up and over my neighbor's roof (they live in a Ranch home) to the feeders on the other side. My neighbor even had one crash into her big picture window catching a bird at the feeder! Oh just an FYI, when Mourning doves fly REALLY fast, the do not make any noise at all.......

Speaking of Birds of Prey, tonight was an awesome family night! The Biology Club arranged an Owl banding workshop out at a local banding station. Since they were looking to fill seats, I asked if it would be alright if my whole family could go. So tonight the kids had one heck of a field trip! They learned a lot and thought it was all really cool! The station we were at focused mainly on Saw-Whet owls and Long Eared owls, but have also banded different hawks that live in WI, and they have even banded a Golden Eagle that visited the Waupaca area a few winters back. The people running the station have been approached about banding the Ospry here in town but so far they have not come to band the chicks..... it would be really cool if they did and set them up with the same type of solar GPS band like the one they put on the eagle.....

This is the education owl. She was injured by a car and ended up with a broken wing and a damaged eye. As you can see, the eye never really recovered.



I suppose it is getting late....... night all!

 

[cuties]

Bigz, sorry about your pullet too!
I used to love hawks. But now I find myself chasing them off whenever I can. Before we got the chickens, I fought them hovering Sydney's ankle biter twice.
Cc, looks lime I have redtail.
Bbl4, sounds like an interesti g family night for sure!

When the machine is going to be down, why dont they call and tell you to stay in bed for a few more hours?!

 

[amberflea]

Must be that time of year, 2 days ago I came home to a hawk eating my adult BCM hen right by the coop, (she had 3 chicks that maybe she was protecting, they were fine), but all the birds are now terrified. Most of them were huddled IN the coop all day. The hawk was not to alarmed when I walked down there, and only flew off nearby as I approached.
I looked it up on the net and it looks like the goshawk.
In lockdown now...

 

[Amyable]

Happy Halloween everybody!!

Sorry for all the hawk activity lately. Good news is, many migrate away for the winter. Tidbit of trivia: Cooper's hawks were once thought extinct, then they started showing up again in the Midwest. I see them once in a while, and there used to be one living in a park near our old Appleton house. BL4, very cool fieldtrip! Saw-whets are too flippin' cute.

New Mason pics:

 

[kristip]

Amy...Mason is too flipping cute. Love the pics!

 

[cuties]

Too cute amy!! He is getting big already

 

[delisha]

Thanks for the Mason pictures..he is adorable